Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"They're trying to escape!"

"Stop them!"

"Don't let them get away!"

One shout followed another, echoing across the battlefield.

Clearly, Uchiha Haruki wasn't the only one who noticed that the Iwa shinobi were retreating.

Some people tried to block their path, but Haruki didn't move.

He had already done enough. He had contributed more than his share in this battle. Now that things were finally stabilizing, he didn't want to stir up more trouble.

Still, for Iwagakure to retreat so suddenly, it had to mean Konoha's reinforcements had arrived, or were very close.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, something massive appeared from the cliffs in the distance.

It was a gigantic serpent, covered in purple markings, with horns on its head and predatory eyes radiating pure menace.

"Manda…"

Haruki whispered the name.

That's right—this was none other than Manda, the powerful summoning serpent from the Ryūchi Cave.

How did Haruki recognize it?

Easy. Standing between Manda's two horns was a pale-skinned man with golden slit-pupil eyes, dark purple eye shadow, and a cold, menacing aura.

Orochimaru.

Who else could it be?

With that in mind, the serpent's identity became obvious.

This was most likely the first wave of reinforcements.

But what surprised Haruki wasn't Manda's arrival—it was that Orochimaru had come personally.

After all, Orochimaru was the commander of Konoha's forces in the Land of Rain. For someone of his rank to leave headquarters so suddenly seemed... unusual.

Then again, considering Orochimaru's strength, Haruki quickly let it go.

As one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru's power easily rivaled that of any Kage-level shinobi.

With strength like that, even if an enemy ambush was lying in wait, who could truly threaten him in such a short time?

Besides, Konoha's base in the Land of Rain wasn't far from here. If anything happened, reinforcements could arrive quickly. All Orochimaru had to do was hold the line briefly.

In that light, his decision to leave headquarters—even if just temporarily—wasn't so reckless after all.

And with Manda as his mount, Orochimaru could reach the battlefield in moments, then use his overwhelming power to regain control of the situation.

Not only would this buy time for the second wave of reinforcements to arrive—it would also reduce Konoha's casualties.

Two birds with one stone. Why not?

As expected, things unfolded just as Haruki anticipated.

Orochimaru's presence instantly suppressed the chaos. With just a few simple ninjutsu, he easily halted over a dozen Iwa jōnin in their tracks.

And when you added the ones held back by other Konoha jōnin, it became clear that more than half of Iwagakure's elite had been left behind.

Dozens of Iwa chūnin were also captured or killed during the retreat.

Clearly, Orochimaru's arrival had caught Iwagakure completely off guard, throwing their entire battle plan into disarray.

If the Iwa forces had truly come prepared, they wouldn't have withdrawn this hastily.

And it really was a hasty retreat.

Otherwise, how could they have left so many behind?

That whistle they had heard earlier—it had to be a signal for an emergency evacuation.

That's why the Iwa chūnin Haruki had been fighting suddenly panicked and ran without warning.

This is the power of a top-tier shinobi.

One person—just one—can turn the tide of a war.

Those fearsome, arrogant Iwa shinobi had become panic-stricken strays in the blink of an eye, scrambling to escape.

But Haruki wasn't interested in kicking someone when they were down. Once he confirmed the immediate area was secure, he took out some ointment and bandages from his gear pouch and began tending to his own wounds.

He hadn't suffered any major injuries during the fight, but he had collected quite a few cuts and bruises.

If left untreated, they might cause unnecessary complications.

Step, step, step—

Footsteps approached.

Ryosuke and Shizuko Mizutani walked over from nearby.

Haruki looked up. Both of them were visibly injured, and their faces were pale.

But not just from blood loss—it was more than that.

They were shaken to the core by what they had just witnessed.

All around them, the battlefield was littered with severed limbs and corpses. Blood soaked the soil. The air was filled with the groans of the dying.

Just being able to remain standing was already a feat of willpower.

Haruki scanned the area roughly.

Of all the low- and mid-rank Konoha shinobi, only about two hundred had survived—around two-thirds of the original force.

It might sound like a lot, but keep in mind—this battle had only lasted a little over ten minutes.

And the Iwa shinobi had targeted genin specifically.

So of the two hundred survivors, most were chūnin. The genin had suffered a casualty rate well over fifty percent.

And among that fifty percent, the majority had been new recruits.

Just imagine—seeing all those corpses, most of them once your classmates and friends.

What kind of feeling would that leave behind?

Haruki, fortunately, hadn't gotten close to many of them. He wasn't hit that hard emotionally.

But Ryosuke and Shizuko were different.

Ryosuke was friendly and well-liked, close with many of their peers. Shizuko, on the other hand, was attentive and kind—she remembered everyone's name.

The psychological toll on them was beyond words.

"Haruki… do you think we'll die on the battlefield one day, too?"

In the silence, Ryosuke suddenly asked.

"No…"

Haruki opened his mouth to say "No," but the word never came out.

The Third Great Ninja War was every bit as brutal as the ones before.

Right now, they were only in the early-to-mid stage of the war. The casualty rate wasn't sky-high yet.

But once Konoha got pushed all the way back to the village gates—that's when things would get truly horrific.

It wouldn't just be genin and chūnin. Even jōnin would die by the dozens.

Haruki couldn't even be sure he himself would make it out alive.

What right did he have to promise Ryosuke otherwise?

After a long pause, Haruki finally said:

"Don't overthink it… Just focus on surviving."

"Focus on surviving…"

Ryosuke repeated quietly, and said no more.

Time ticked by.

About five minutes later—

The second wave of reinforcements arrived.

This time, they brought not only combat shinobi, but also a large number of medical-nin.

As the first village to establish a formal medical-nin training system, Konoha had far more medics than any other major shinobi village.

As a result, their injured had much higher survival rates.

Now, under the protection of battle-ready shinobi, the medical-nin began moving across the battlefield, healing the wounded with medical ninjutsu.

Those with lighter injuries recovered almost immediately, while those more seriously hurt could at least have their lives saved.

Watching the wounds on his body rapidly close, Haruki made a firm decision:

No matter what, he had to learn medical ninjutsu.

There was no getting around it. Medical ninjutsu was just too useful.

As long as chakra reserves were sufficient, you could heal cuts, burns, even minor internal injuries with ease.

Haruki didn't believe he could go through this war unscathed.

Better to be prepared.

Of course, if he could eventually raise his physical constitution to the point of natural regeneration, he might not need it.

But that was a long way off.

In a place as dangerous as the battlefield, learning at least one or two emergency healing jutsu was absolutely essential.

"All done!"

The medic removed her hand from Haruki's shoulder and advised:

"Don't get it wet, and no strenuous movement for the next few days. It'll be fully healed in about three days."

"Thank you."

Haruki replied sincerely.

"You're welcome."

The medical-nin smiled, then quickly moved on to the next injured shinobi.